Strawberry Kisses
by Valentine'sNinja
Summary: Vincent reflects on the time he has lived with Yuffie, and on why he finds socks in random places, and why when they kiss, she always tastes like strawberries. Oneshot fluff!


Hello! Short little one-shot here. I know the title is kinda silly, but you'll see why I called it that. I hope everyone enjoys!

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the characters used or mentioned in this piece of fanfiction. I am making no money off of them…

Warning: Slight adult situation towards the end. Don't read it if you don't like it, please!

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**Strawberry Kisses**

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Vincent Valentine sat in silent contemplation of his life from the moment his mother had died, to when he had been a Turk, and then when he had met Lucrecia for the first time. He had then died, been turned into four different demons, been stuffed into a coffin for nearly thirty years, until the day he had met the people he would come to care for more than his own life. Among them had been a sixteen year old ninja who would become a big part of his life from that moment on. Despite her irritating habits of stealing anything shiny, particularly materia, she had been a good friend from the moment they had met.

As the years passed and the world was saved a total of three times, twice from Sephiroth, and once from Hojo reincarnated in another man's body, Yuffie had come to mean to him what Lucrecia had once meant to him. He hadn't believed himself capable of loving another woman ever again, but the ninja had healed his soul and made him see that he deserved happiness as much as the next person. After all, Cloud had found solace and love in Tifa, why couldn't he do the same with someone else?

At the age of twenty-one—almost twenty-two, Yuffie was the most important thing in his life. They were living together in a small house on the outskirts of Edge, where the foliage was getting greener by the day as the earth healed the damage from five years before. The entire Avalanche gang had contributed to building the home that had originally been for Vincent before he had asked Yuffie to live with him. She had been on the road for a year before they had gotten together. After the defeat of Omega, her father had removed the duties of ruling Wutai from her shoulders and had let her go live her life the way she wished.

After traveling around the world and taking care of monsters in random towns, Yuffie had gone to Edge to visit Tifa and Cloud on the celebration of Sephiroth's first defeat, which had become an official holiday for the people around the world. During that party, Vincent had noticed her subdued attitude, and her uncharacteristic silence. She hadn't even pestered him about his materia, nor had she tried to steal it. She hadn't called him 'Vinnie' anymore either; he honestly preferred that she call him _Vince._ He had seen a shadow of her former self when Barret and Cid had called her out and challenged her to a drinking contest, and to both men's dismay, she had held her liquor until the very end and had beat them at their own game.

Vincent had then escorted her to her room, at Tifa's insistence, after various shot glasses had been strewn on the table and on the floor. Barret and Cid had been passed out on the table, and Yuffie had been the only one awake, though completely smashed. As he followed her up the stairs, Vincent stopped her from tripping over her feet and falling on her face more than once. She clung heavily to his arms and shirt and mumbled incoherently about how good he smelled and why he had never held her that way before. There had been a moment between them as they stood in front of the room she would be occupying, when his eyes had met hers, and he had seen the alcohol fog fade away for only a moment. He had seen in her eyes a look he had only seen in Tifa's face when she was looking at Cloud.

He had found himself inching forward only slightly as she stared at him. When their lips had been a breath away from touching, she had fallen limp in his arms, completely passed out. As he pulled her into her bedroom effortlessly, he had watched her sleep for a moment after pulling off her always bizarre boots and tucking her in. He'd always had a vague wonder as to where she bought her attire and footwear.

Yuffie as she slept, still held her childish innocence, even though she had been through things that not sixteen year old could have dreamed of. Her grip had refused to move away from his cloak, and he had done the only thing he could so that he could leave her room. He had removed it and placed it over her blankets, her grip never relaxing. She'd had a hell of a hangover the next day, and she had not remembered what had almost happened between them, but she had asked him why she had been sleeping with his cloak. He'd just told her that she hadn't let go of it, so he left it with her. She had blushed slightly and thanked him before walking off to tease Barret and Cid about losing their drinking contest.

Since that day on, Vincent had found himself watching her as she spent the next few weeks helping Tifa out with the bar or with Denzel and Marlene. He'd also noticed that Denzel seemed to have developed a sort of crush on her that Cloud wouldn't leave alone and he made both Yuffie and the boy blush. Vincent supposed that being among the people she cared about was good to her soul because she was becoming more and more the girl he had come to know. She smiled more and her eyes shined, and as the days passed by Vincent had realized that she had been a shadow of her former self because she had been lonely.

The days after the reunion of Avalanche were slightly vague, since he had spent them with Yuffie and the children. Her smile always seemed to rob him of all sense of time, and he was surprised to see that he wasn't so averse to pushing her away as she tried to get closer to him. She had dragged him to the brand new movie theater in the heart of the city more than once, and to an all night diner where she had made him eat onion rings with a huge cheeseburger and an ice cream float. She had stolen his fries all through the meal when she thought he wasn't looking and she had shared stories of her mother with him that she hadn't talked with anyone before.

They had shared their first kiss that night, under the moonlight and at the door of the Strife's home and bar. She had giggled that he had onion breath, but it had been okay because she had eaten the same thing, so they were even. Despite the taste, their kiss was sweet and it had lingered on his mind for weeks afterward.

After months of banter and dates, they had shared another meaningful moment together, late in the afternoon, as the sun was setting and deep in the green expanse that had been growing around Edge. She had been the first woman he had been with in more than thirty years. He had never been intimate with Lucrecia, but he'd had different escapades in his Turk years. They had all paled in comparison to Yuffie. Also, he had been the first man in her life, and even though she had blushed prettily when she had told him, he couldn't have thought of a better gift she could've given him.

Afterwards, she had asked him to find a place there in Edge so that she could have a reason to stay in one place. He had told her that he would build a house for himself there, on that land where they had so recently made love. And though they hadn't spoken of love yet, she had smiled at his words and hugged him tightly. A few weeks later, Reeve had drawn up some blueprints and they had found the materials to start building the one-story house with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, dining room, living room, office, and a training room.

He had asked Yuffie to move in with him when the house had been finished and they had gone to buy furniture for it. She had been stunned but visibly happy. She had kissed him there, in front of the salesperson, much to Vincent's embarrassment. They had moved in together a few days later, and she had made herself comfortable in his home and in his life. As he had predicted, living with Yuffie had been very interesting. He got to see her odd quirks, and he got a glimpse into her privacy.

The first night they had slept in the same bed, he had discovered that she was a pillow hog. They had a total of six pillows, three for each of them, and somehow her pillows—and most of his—ended up on the floor and she managed to take all of his until he was pillow-less and she had one remaining on the bed; this happened each night. On random nights, she preferred to spoon him instead of the other way around. Other nights she slept at the other end of the bed, which had resulted in her falling off of the bed a few times already. He had managed not to laugh at her up to that point, but it was getting harder and harder, especially when he was woken up from the loud thump and she was grumbling under her breath as she crawled back into bed and into his arms.

Vincent was brought out of his thoughts of life with Yuffie when she walked out to the yard, where he was sitting up in one of the many trees surrounding their home. She was wearing a side satchel where a black and beige furred creature was peeking its head. She wore the other one around her neck like a scarf, and she was rubbing the head of the thing gently.

"Look, daddy is up in the tree avoiding us," said Yuffie to her pet ferrets.

"I was trying to read a book and they kept biting the tips of my fingers again," replied Vincent in annoyance. "If you do not wish to come home one day and find yourself with a ferret-pelt mantle, I suggest you keep them locked in their cage until you return."

"Don't listen to him Baby, you too Coco," Yuffie said in a baby voice to her pets.

Vincent rolled his eyes and cursed Reeve for the hundredth time in his mind. He had been the one to give Yuffie her new pets months ago for her birthday. The ferrets were still babies and had some growing to do, but they were at least housebroken and behaved for Yuffie. They seemed to hate Vincent for reasons unknown and they were not allowed in his office or training room, since they appeared to have a taste for the books he liked to read and the leather of the punching bag in the training room. He jumped out of the tree and approached Yuffie, who had gone off to visit Tifa for a few hours, now that the bartender was planning her wedding to Cloud.

"How are Tifa and the children?" asked Vincent before pressing a kiss to her lips. Baby, the female ferret, crawled onto his shoulders and nuzzled against him. He glared at the thing because he knew it was all an act it put up in front of Yuffie.

"They're great. Though Tifa is driving Denzel and Marlene up the wall with her wedding plans. She needs Shera and me for this, so she's arranging for Barret to take the kids for a few weeks in order for her to plan with us," Yuffie replied as they walked back into the house. "Do you want me to cook something or should we order in? Personally, I'm in the mood for pizza," she said with a grin.

"Order the pizza. I'm in no mood to clean up your disasters in the kitchen," he said with a smirk. Yuffie laughed and slapped his chest before walking off to get the phone and to look for the number of the favorite pizza place.

Vincent sat down in his favorite arm chair and looked at Baby as the ferret crawled down and off of him to follow Yuffie. Hn, he had been right to think that the creatures faked liking him in front of the ninja. As he sat and thought nothing in particular, his eyes took in the various images of their friends Yuffie had framed and put up around the living room.

His personal favorite had been one of Yuffie, Tifa, Marlene, and Shera that was a close up of all the pretty faces. Cloud had taken that one and had given one to each female. The others Yuffie had taken. There was one of Reeve and Cait Sith, another of Barret, Marlene, and Denzel, another of Cid and Shera in front of the Shera, one of Red XIII by himself, standing proud with Cosmo Canyon in the background, and Yuffie's favorite, one of Tifa and Cloud having a moment of holding each other in the rain. Her ultimate favorite, as she put it, was one of himself, staring off into the distance, arms crossed, and Cerberus shining in its holster. The wind had been ruffling his hair and the sun had made his eyes shine a vibrant red.

That was when he noticed something missing. For all that she had pictures of herself and of him alone and with friends, they didn't have one together, just the two of them. He'd have to ask Cloud or Reeve to get a picture of them when they weren't looking, since candid pictures were always the best. His eyes kept skimming their living room. Next to the TV that Yuffie had insisted they buy for her to watch her favorite drama's and cartoons in, there was a materia cabinet. It had been built to hold expensive and beautiful china, but instead it held various orbs of materia. Also, courtesy of Reeve, it was protected by bulletproof glass and wired to shock anyone not authorized to open it.

As his gaze wandered the living room over various things, he remembered that on his birthday a few weeks before, Yuffie had cooked him dinner and had pulled him out and onto the roof so that they could watch the stars. Then she'd asked him to dance. Neither of them had known how to, but just feeling her in his arms, they had twirled with the wind and the loose petals of some fragrant flowers that moved around them. He had never danced under the moonlight, and had told her as much. She had smiled and kissed him, hugging him tightly and whispering how happy she was that he was there with her, sharing his life with her.

Vincent smirked to himself at the memory of spending a night full of heat in her arms. For such a young and inexperienced girl, she always managed to make him tremble in pleasure at her touch. He couldn't have asked for a better lover. Together they had learned how to touch each other, what to do to garner the greatest response, and how to make the experience all the more explosive and amazing.

As Yuffie left the kitchen and toed off her boots, she began to tell him about some details of Tifa and Cloud's wedding, but really, how was he to understand the difference of flower bouquets and—how Yuffie put it—whether a maid of honor's dress should have a bow on the ass or not? He knew nothing of weddings, he knew nothing of children. Hell, he barely knew anything about having pets and keeping them happy.

As she kept up her ramblings, he spotted something red partially under the couch and rolled his eyes. Yuffie also had a bad habit of leaving her socks lying around in random places around the house. He'd found a colorful sock in the office, behind the computer once. When he had asked her how it had gotten there, she had shrugged and said that she didn't know. He'd also seen them under the bed, next to the shower, under the kitchen table, in one of the pockets of his leather outfit, and even in the pantry. Vincent didn't know if it was her or the ferrets that left the socks all over the house, but he had seen Yuffie pulling them off in places that weren't the closet more than once.

"Aww, it's raining!" Yuffie whined as she looked out of the window.

"I thought that you enjoyed the rain," Vincent commented.

Yuffie gave him an annoyed look. "I do, but not when I'm waiting for my pizza. It'll be later now!"

"Put the rats in their cage," said Vincent as he stood.

"For the last time, they're not rats. And why should I?" she asked petulantly.

Vincent moved to where she was standing and took her lips in a heated kiss, his warm hands gliding over the flatness of her stomach. "Do you really want them watching when I take you on our bed? It's very disturbing to have them there," he murmured when he pulled away.

Yuffie felt her mouth run dry at the look in Vincent's eyes. "Okay," she squeaked, grabbing Baby and Coco before racing to place them in their cage, which was by the backdoor and near the heater where they would be warm.

Vincent watched her in amusement before walking off towards their bedroom to pull off his cloak and the rest of his leather clothing. She stepped back into the room moved slowly towards him, her hands reaching out to touch his pale skin and the fading scars. He always enjoyed the way she looked at him—as if she had never seen something quite like him, and he supposed that she hadn't. He also couldn't get enough of the way she touched him.

Though she had some bad habits that he was learning to deal with, like cracking her knuckles when she was angry or irritated, or popping gum when he was trying to read, she had so many more good things to offer him. She made him chuckle and smile with her antics. When the weather was warm, she danced in her underwear, or at least until he couldn't take it anymore and he had to touch her. They usually ended up on any flat surface that wouldn't break with their weight. During rainy days or thunderstorms, they spent the day in bed, her fingers running through his hair in a soothing way before she dozed off next to him as he read a book, or watched a black-and-white movie that always bored her.

Their small dinner table always held white roses that smelled so sweet. Roses which she took care of and hadn't been too sure would survive under her ministrations. Vincent remembered the day she had come home with the two tiny shrubs that would grow white roses. She had basically ordered him to change into something comfortable in order to help her plant the rose bushes.

Together they had worked for an hour and had dug perfect holes on either side of the front door stairs where the little plants had gone. She had smiled brightly at him when their fingers had touched amidst the rich earth, and Vincent realized that he had never thought he would ever share a moment such as that one with anyone. Sitting there in the grass, planting shrubbery and watching the shine in Yuffie's eyes had been another significant moment in his life. From that day on, they had both taken care of the rose bushes and the past few months, the bushes had given out beautiful white roses that Yuffie picked when they were ready and she placed them on the dining room table, along with a single bloom that she placed by his gun where he kept it in the bedroom.

Yuffie warmed his heart and made him forget his past, made him feel human again. She was the sun to his darkness. The smile to his tears. She was purity to his taint. She was love to what had once been his hate. Now he was happy that he could be love to her as well. He was still broody and silent at times, but when she was close by, he found no reason for those two things. She loved him for what he was. She collected newspaper cutouts that featured him and kept them in a box with the Cerberus insignia; she stayed awake at night and watched him when she thought he was asleep. She cried at the corniest and sappiest movies that made no sense to him, and she still watched cartoons that not even Vincent would have watched when he had been a boy.

Curiously, she always tasted of strawberries and after they kissed, her taste would linger in his mouth for a long while. She ate too much candy and always suffered through stomach aches, and he was left to pick up the discarded candy wrappers everywhere around the house. He sometimes had to threaten her to eat her vegetables as well, or to drink some milk before she choked on the various cookies that she shoved in her mouth. There were times when he wondered if he was babysitting her instead of being her lover, and those thoughts disturbed him. But really, he was doing things to her that a babysitter wasn't allowed to do, so he supposed that he wasn't her caregiver.

All of those things paled in comparison to how she reacted when he touched her. They way her lips parted and her back arched, or the way she called his name in her pleasure. She was kissing him now, and he was trying to get her out of her clothing without physically hurting her. Then they were on their bed and everything else was a blur. She touched him as if _he _were something fragile that would break at any moment. Those gentle, deft ninja hands knew how to touch him to work him up to the highest peak and he loved her because she had no qualms about touching a monster.

"But you're not a monster," she murmured against his ear before kissing him.

_Damn. _Had he said that last part out loud? He ignored her words and tasted her flesh, feeling his heart swell in his chest as she clung to him and whispered sweet nonsense to him. Her hands ran over his face, touching and kissing what she could reach before she caressed his bare back as he moved against her. Together they had come to memorize each other's body and Vincent had realized a long time ago that he would give anything to spend the rest of his life with her. He stared into those brown eyes that held his heart and saw that he held hers as well. She had given herself to him fully and she would never do the same with anyone else ever again. Yuffie was his, and though he hadn't told her yet, he was hers too.

He wanted to give Yuffie all that he had once wished to give to Lucrecia. He wanted to marry her, and to have children with her if there was still a chance for him to have normal children. He wanted to grow old with her; he wanted to die with her. He wanted to be there with her every day to watch her smile and cry and get stomach aches. He wanted to be surrounded by the smell of roses and the taste of strawberries for as long as he lived. There was nothing else he wanted more than that.

Crimson eyes opened to stare down at his ninja when he heard her breathing was changing, growing quicker and he watched her as she arched her back and called out his name the way she did to make him lose control. Then he was reaching his own release and he felt as if his brain had short circuited. He couldn't think or talk for a few minutes. All they could both do was take deep breaths to control their heartbeats and hug her to him almost desperately.

Yuffie pulled back and looked at him as they shook in each other's arms. Her soft fingers skimmed over his smooth skin, smoothing away his long hair from his eyes. "What was all that muttering about you being a monster?" she asked him softly.

Vincent shook his head and tucked his face against her neck as she continued to hold him. "It was nothing. You don't need to worry about it," he replied evasively.

She kept running her fingers through his hair in the same manner she always did when he had a nightmare and he woke her up in the middle of the night. They had been coming less and less for the past few weeks, but still, there were some nights when she could tell that he was being plagued by dreams of his past that his subconscious wouldn't let go of.

"Can I ask you something?" he murmured.

"You don't even have to ask," replied Yuffie with a smile.

Vincent ran a hand down her arm to entwine his fingers with her, her other hand still in his hair. "Why do you always taste of strawberries?"

Yuffie giggled. "It's a lip-gloss that Marlene gave to me when I was living with them."

"I thought you didn't like to wear make-up," Vincent commented.

"I don't," said Yuffie as she stretched and sat up to look down at him. "But it was a gift from a little girl that I happen to love like a little sister. How could I turn it down?"

He was about to open his mouth and blurt out that he loved her when there was the sound of the doorbell ringing. Yuffie stood quickly and pulled on his shirt, which reached her thighs, and raced for the door. "You better not be wearing only that shirt when you answer the door," he said right before she was out of the bedroom.

Yuffie stopped and turned to him. "Why not? If I wear something else, it'll get dirty," she said with a slight blush.

Vincent just sighed and motioned to the robe that was hanging on the other side of the bathroom door. "What if there is a gust of wind and you're wearing nothing under that shirt? I don't really fancy the thought of you flashing the pizza boy. It won't make him give you the pizza for free," he said in amusement.

The ninja burst into laughter as she pulled on the robe and raced out the door. "I hadn't even thought of that! Thanks for the idea Vince!" she called before she was too far away.

He looked at the doorway in suspicion before he stood and walked to the bathroom to clean up and to then pull on a pair of boxers and pants. He knew Yuffie wouldn't flash a stranger, but… she had been known to do strange things in her teenage years. What if she hadn't outgrown that phase? As he walked to the living room, trying to push his hair into a more normal style, he saw her chatting with the young man at the door. His eyes narrowed slightly when he saw her giggling at something the guy said.

Yuffie turned to look at him and grinned. "Hey, Vince, this guy here was in my ninja class when we were little. I just knew that he had left Wutai and his mom was so pissed off. His name is Ti," she said with a smile. Then she turned to pizza boy. "Ti, this is Vincent Valentine, he's my… boyfriend?" she asked a bit quizzically. He hadn't really asked her to be his girlfriend when he had asked her to move in with him. So what were they?

"Uh, nice to meet you, Mr. Valentine," said Ti nervously, just now realizing that he was the gunman who was part of Avalanche along with Yuffie. "I should go, Lady Yuffie. I have other deliveries to make," he said with a small smile.

"Don't call me that, call me Yuffie. We're not in Wutai anymore and I no longer hold my title," she said with a sad little smile.

"Okay," said the young man. "Take care of yourself then, and it was nice seeing you, Yuffie, and meeting you, Mr. Valentine," he said before he bowed slightly and turned to walk off.

Yuffie closed the door and placed the hot pizza on the table, missing the still narrow look on Vincent's face. "It took you a while to tell him what I was to you," he said in a flat tone.

She turned to look at him with a frown. "Well, yeah. We haven't really discussed anything about our relationship these past months that we've been together. I wasn't about to do it in front of Ti. Besides, I can't introduce you as my lover, can I?" she asked snidely.

Vincent watched her as she opened the pizza box and took in the wonderful smell. "How about you introduce me as your husband then?"

Yuffie looked at him again. "But we're not married."

"Would you like us to be?" he asked, looking slightly uncomfortable.

The ninja walked over to stand in front of him, pizza completely forgotten. "Are you… are you asking me to marry you?" she asked incredulously.

Vincent stared into her wide eyes and realized that maybe he was asking her to marry to him. He'd just been foolish enough to blurt it out without getting her a ring or setting the mood. He didn't think that she'd want to tell the Avalanche women that he had proposed over pizza. It was as corny as proposing through the phone. "I haven't even gotten you a ring," he muttered, looking away.

Yuffie jumped into his arms and kissed him. "We'll get that later!" she said excitedly. "But… are you sure that you want to marry me? I mean, I know that you've had a lot of patience with me because I have some annoying habits, but—"

She stopped talking when his lips pressed to hers. When he pulled back, she had a dazed expression on her face. She then grinned and hugged him tightly, legs around his waist and arms tight around his neck. "You're serious?" Yuffie asked him softly.

"Yes. I know that I would like to present you as Yuffie Valentine from now on," he said with a small smile.

Yuffie giggled and kissed his cheek. "You're the sweetest man I have ever met. And…" she pressed their foreheads together and closed her eyes. "That's why I love you so much," she murmured.

"I… I love you too," he said just as softly, one hand holding her against him while the other pushed back her chin so that he could look at her face better. "Open your eyes," Vincent murmured. She did, and he felt his heart squeeze in his chest when he saw the tears in the beautiful brown orbs. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have children with you, if I still can. I want to grow old with you."

Yuffie smiled and hugged him again. "Me too. Though I think that we should wait a little for kids. At least until Cloud and Tifa have their first one. I need to practice on someone else's baby before we have ours," she said with a giggle. "Don't tell Cloud though, but that is going to happen pretty soon."

"Tifa is expecting?" Vincent asked in surprise.

Yuffie grinned. "Why do you think she's planning the wedding so quickly? Cloud agreed to them marrying as soon as possible, but he doesn't know that he's knocked Tifa up already."

Vincent rolled his eyes at her immature way of expressing certain things. Another annoying habit, but she would grow out of that soon. At least he hoped she would. If they managed to have children in the future, he didn't want her telling people that he had 'knocked her up.' He would get her the ring she deserved, and they would marry. None of the bad quirks in their relationship mattered because she had more good things to offer than he had ever hoped for.

Besides, he was willing to look past the ferrets biting his fingers, and finding socks by the coffee can, and planting rose bushes, and dancing when he didn't know how to. He would do it all again just to have more of her strawberry kisses.

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I know it's kinda pointless, but really, can anyone get enough of Yuffie/Vincent fluff? I dunno, I just had an idea of what Vince and Yuffie would be like if they lived together, and what type of things Yuffie would do. I tried for humor, but I write romance and drama much better. I'm happy of how this one turned out for a one-shot and I don't know, but I may write a sequel about Vince and Yuffie having a kid, maybe a toddler, or a kid the age of Marlene or Denzel. I'll think about, or maybe if you guys want me to, I'll write it. Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this and if you review, thank you as well!

Byebye

Joey

P.S. I'm in the process of writing a full-chaptered fic, and I hope to have it out soon!


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